cathmom Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 My dd got her first college mail today, 3 different ones - they all got her name from the same place. None of them say anything about the college or why she might be interested in going there. Each gives her a username and password so she can log in and request a guide that will presumably tell her about the college. My personal favorite also recommends their Virtual Counselor online quiz to help her discover the right college for her, which I see as a thinly disguised attempt to collect personal information from her. They're starting early, as she's only in tenth grade. I am quite fed up with and disgusted by this whole college thing. Issues with my oldest's college and experience with the system now make me just want to avoid the whole thing with the rest of my dc. Is this what college mail is now? It was all filled with vapid compliments to her as well, when I know they got her name from the test the state makes all tenth graders take. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I'd say 75% of the mail both ds and dd have received is like that. We just pitch/ed those envelopes directly into the recycling bin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 We got one yesterday that was something like "Send your info back right away so we can mail your our booklet on 10 things college admissions officers don't want you to know." It was sent by the college admissions officer at a small college. :confused1: We've also been getting a number of brochures for overseas and college based summer programs. These tend to run in the $3,000 - $5,000 per couple week session range. Way more than I think they are worth. For $5,000 I'll fly to Europe and tour around with him. We had a great time when we lived there and I have quite a list of places to see/go back to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 We got one yesterday that was something like "Send your info back right away so we can mail your our booklet on 10 things college admissions officers don't want you to know." It was sent by the college admissions officer at a small college. :confused1: We've also been getting a number of brochures for overseas and college based summer programs. These tend to run in the $3,000 - $5,000 per couple week session range. Way more than I think they are worth. For $5,000 I'll fly to Europe and tour around with him. We had a great time when we lived there and I have quite a list of places to see/go back to. Yep, getting them here every week too. Got four today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Yes, I've noticed this too. Ds gets lots of email and email like this. I guess I ought to be happy that he doesn't bother with them... :glare: Oh, yeah, and the summer programs. Everyone wants him to come to a summer program. They must makes lots of $$$$ on those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in OH Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 It was all filled with vapid compliments to her as well One of my favorites is when they show a picture of the stone columned entrance to the school and photo shop your dc's name in the stone as though it's been carved there! I don't think this strategy is completely new, we've been seeing these marketing ploys at least since oldest dd searched for colleges 5 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 One of my favorites is when they show a picture of the stone columned entrance to the school and photo shop your dc's name in the stone as though it's been carved there! I don't think this strategy is completely new, we've been seeing these marketing ploys at least since oldest dd searched for colleges 5 years ago. Oh, how creepy is that! I'm finding that I kind of prefer the schools that play a little hard to get, even in their marketing materials. "Apply, don't apply. We'll do fine with or without you." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Geez, you ladies are all so cynical. These colleges all really want MY daughter. Of course they're not just trying to solicit applications to lower their admit rate.... ;) We've been tracking the "offers" from the schools: a book on choosing the right college, a poster (gee, thanks, U.Ga), "generous merit aid," honors college, early college, a $ummer experience. It is interesting from a marketing standpoint. Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 One of my favorites is when they show a picture of the stone columned entrance to the school and photo shop your dc's name in the stone as though it's been carved there! I don't think this strategy is completely new, we've been seeing these marketing ploys at least since oldest dd searched for colleges 5 years ago. I get calendars like this from my insurance agent every year - a plane skywriting my name, my name in neon in Times Square, etc. It would have been my dream possession when I was ten years old. Now, I'd rather have the money off the cost of my insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 My dd got her first college mail today, 3 different ones - they all got her name from the same place. None of them say anything about the college or why she might be interested in going there. Each gives her a username and password so she can log in and request a guide that will presumably tell her about the college. My personal favorite also recommends their Virtual Counselor online quiz to help her discover the right college for her, which I see as a thinly disguised attempt to collect personal information from her. They're starting early, as she's only in tenth grade. I am quite fed up with and disgusted by this whole college thing. Issues with my oldest's college and experience with the system now make me just want to avoid the whole thing with the rest of my dc. Is this what college mail is now? It was all filled with vapid compliments to her as well, when I know they got her name from the test the state makes all tenth graders take. Ugh. My take is that printed materials are expensive, and they'd rather not send a large, expensive glossy thing to students who aren't interested. I can live with that as it seems to at least have a modest bit of budgeting involved which I see as a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 A lot of it is - and it can help small , regional colleges find and get good students who otherwise would not even have heard of or thought to look at the school. Ask me how I know this...(DS ended up at just such a school. (Augustana in Rock Island, IL) ...they kept sending mailings until we bit for a closer look. He is now a Jr there, in Honors, on a very big merit scholarship, doing research with a professor and an internship lined up for this summer. Our cost is less than our EFC after all the money the school gave to ds.) So at least glance at the materials, maybe look at the school's website...and check out the potential merit age on the website. Some of those schools might be worth a look.....they know they are competing with the bigger, flashy schools you WILL have already heard of. They need to get your attention somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 My take is that printed materials are expensive, and they'd rather not send a large, expensive glossy thing to students who aren't interested. I can live with that as it seems to at least have a modest bit of budgeting involved which I see as a good thing. I get that and have no problem with it. What floored me was they didn't try to explain why she might want to find out more about their college! It doesn't cost any more to send a letter with actual content than with vague generalities, false compliments, and extensive login instructions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 My personal favorites are the ones that showcase a beautiful photo of a sunny, sandy beach. Not much about the school, but hey, the weather's great! But then maybe it's because we're in the throes of winter that those stand out. :laugh: Dd doesn't look at any of it. I give a second glance at the ones which offer a waiver of the application fee, but nothing ever came of those. Dd made her choices based on what she found on her own (internet, tours, etc.). Nothing that was mailed to her unsolicited had any influence on her decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 (DS ended up at just such a school. (Augustana in Rock Island, IL) One of DS's letters in this weekend's mail was from Augustana. Campus is only about 40 mins from where we live. We have been to the campus to see the planetarium and museum and drive by regularly when we are in the QC. DS thinks it might be too close to home for him though. I hope he takes a closer look. I have heard wonderful things about the opportunities available in certain departments. I am glad to hear your DS likes it. I would like to hear more about his experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I get that and have no problem with it. What floored me was they didn't try to explain why she might want to find out more about their college! It doesn't cost any more to send a letter with actual content than with vague generalities, false compliments, and extensive login instructions. I'm afraid all I have as answer is a cynical take, that it does take more money to send a smart letter because then you'd have to hire someone who could write that letter and think of it in the first place. I suppose if I am to be kind and not candid, then I would have to wonder if they've done some research that has indicated that this is what appeals to high school students. I certainly see similar thinking elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 My dd got her first college mail today, 3 different ones - they all got her name from the same place. None of them say anything about the college or why she might be interested in going there. Each gives her a username and password so she can log in and request a guide that will presumably tell her about the college. My personal favorite also recommends their Virtual Counselor online quiz to help her discover the right college for her, which I see as a thinly disguised attempt to collect personal information from her. They're starting early, as she's only in tenth grade. I am quite fed up with and disgusted by this whole college thing. Issues with my oldest's college and experience with the system now make me just want to avoid the whole thing with the rest of my dc. Is this what college mail is now? It was all filled with vapid compliments to her as well, when I know they got her name from the test the state makes all tenth graders take. Ugh. I took a look at a solicitation eldest received from University of Miami. Pretty sure it was a result of his taking the PSAT. The letter gave no information about the school at all (not size, top majors, headline professors, nothing) but did have an address to go online and take a quiz about his interests in college and to request a booklet about applications. There was even a specific password code include (presumably to tie his quiz back to his PSAT score and College Board file). I see it as a data mining opportunity. I imagine that the quiz will ask about his goals for college, as well as demographic information (probably to include some indicator of need for financial aid). Blech. :thumbdown: ETA: I'll go one farther with the Blech. I went to the Uni of Miami website, looking for the quiz mentioned. Didn't see it on the front admissions pages. So I dug the letter out of recycling. The address is for umadmissions dot org slash reply (not wanting to give them more links). I don't see anything on that page with the Uni of Miami logo. It is also in a totally different webstyle than the official Uni of Miami pages are. No use of school colors. This looks more and more like a data mining phishing mailer. I click on the privacy policy at the bottom of the page and it is about Name Administration (NA Media) which is a big network of generic domain names. Lesson, there may be data mining efforts targeted toward your kids, that look a lot like college material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I took a look at a solicitation eldest received from University of Miami. Pretty sure it was a result of his taking the PSAT. The letter gave no information about the school at all (not size, top majors, headline professors, nothing) but did have an address to go online and take a quiz about his interests in college and to request a booklet about applications. There was even a specific password code include (presumably to tie his quiz back to his PSAT score and College Board file). I see it as a data mining opportunity. I imagine that the quiz will ask about his goals for college, as well as demographic information (probably to include some indicator of need for financial aid). Blech. :thumbdown: ETA: I'll go one farther with the Blech. I went to the Uni of Miami website, looking for the quiz mentioned. Didn't see it on the front admissions pages. So I dug the letter out of recycling. The address is for umadmissions dot org slash reply (not wanting to give them more links). I don't see anything on that page with the Uni of Miami logo. It is also in a totally different webstyle than the official Uni of Miami pages are. No use of school colors. This looks more and more like a data mining phishing mailer. I click on the privacy policy at the bottom of the page and it is about Name Administration (NA Media) which is a big network of generic domain names. Lesson, there may be data mining efforts targeted toward your kids, that look a lot like college material. Wow, good to know! Thanks for the investigation. Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I took a look at a solicitation eldest received from University of Miami. Pretty sure it was a result of his taking the PSAT. The letter gave no information about the school at all (not size, top majors, headline professors, nothing) but did have an address to go online and take a quiz about his interests in college and to request a booklet about applications. There was even a specific password code include (presumably to tie his quiz back to his PSAT score and College Board file). I see it as a data mining opportunity. I imagine that the quiz will ask about his goals for college, as well as demographic information (probably to include some indicator of need for financial aid). Blech. :thumbdown: ETA: I'll go one farther with the Blech. I went to the Uni of Miami website, looking for the quiz mentioned. Didn't see it on the front admissions pages. So I dug the letter out of recycling. The address is for umadmissions dot org slash reply (not wanting to give them more links). I don't see anything on that page with the Uni of Miami logo. It is also in a totally different webstyle than the official Uni of Miami pages are. No use of school colors. This looks more and more like a data mining phishing mailer. I click on the privacy policy at the bottom of the page and it is about Name Administration (NA Media) which is a big network of generic domain names. Lesson, there may be data mining efforts targeted toward your kids, that look a lot like college material. Was that the flier with the picture of the white beach with the palm tree? My son got one of those recently. JFS - My son did finally investigate the unheard of ones that sent him lots of mail. In general, he ignored anything sent to him. As far as I know, most of the college mail consisted of regular fliers, ones with photos of the campus, happy students studying together or doing experiments with goggles on, or building race cars. It was definately picture heavy and text light, but some had interesting text as well, stuff with the buzzwords "study abroad", ""collaborative", "small classes", "projects", etc. It all looked appropriate, if expensive for the college to mail. He didn't put his email address on the SAT form or even finish filling out their interest survey form. He was obviously targeted by a few of the more unknown schools, and it took more than two pieces of mail to get his attention and make him go look them up on the internet. Early on, after the PSAT, he received several of those offers of college guidance of some sort purportedly from admissions offices. We thougth those were rather bizarre and ignored them. I remember the book offer lol. What I did think was nice was that our local school system sent a letter and password to whatever college search engine they use for their students. There was one college recently that sent an envelope saying "short application enclosed" that contained no application. Then a few days later, another identical envelope showed up with the same cover letter, this time with the application. Oops. My favourite was the school that said, "Since you've shown an interest..." and then gave a password so that you could apply using their special "short" application form. This was after we had struggled through the common application. The form wasn't really shorter than the common app but it was indeed much simpler and it was much shorter time-wise. And no suppliments were required. Nice marketing that worked well for us. He also got a few letters saying that they hadn't heard from him and were extending their early application deadline for him. I thought that was a fairly good marketing strategy. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Was that the flier with the picture of the white beach with the palm tree? My son got one of those recently. Nan No, this particular piece of mail had a letter and then a separate card with the password code. It also had a return envelope so you could give the info in hard copy. Having dug the card and envelope out of the trash, it is in fact a postage paid envelope addressed to University of Miami. But the bizarre general nature of the website makes me leery. Even if this is a legitimate solicitation from Uni of Miami, I think we'll pass on providing more info. It just feels too ticky tacky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Geez, you ladies are all so cynical. These colleges all really want MY daughter. Of course they're not just trying to solicit applications to lower their admit rate.... ;) Terri Bwahahahaha! Yeah...right! Here too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Lesson, there may be data mining efforts targeted toward your kids, that look a lot like college material. Thanks for the head's up about this, Sebastion! I think we're going to forgo giving out our children's email addresses on all CB exams, including APs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 No, this particular piece of mail had a letter and then a separate card with the password code. It also had a return envelope so you could give the info in hard copy. Having dug the card and envelope out of the trash, it is in fact a postage paid envelope addressed to University of Miami. But the bizarre general nature of the website makes me leery. Even if this is a legitimate solicitation from Uni of Miami, I think we'll pass on providing more info. It just feels too ticky tacky. One of my son's colleges had him mail his application to their processing center in a different town. Although I understood, it definately felt odd not to mail it to the admissions office. LOL Obviously that white beach card was good marketing if I am still thinking about it. It arrived on a particularly cold day. Well, this discussion just proves what we all know already - that colleges, even public colleges, even non-profit privates, are businesses, and have to give thought to marketing and their future and their reputation. Did anyone get innundated with information from Pace? I think Pace was the one that had students calling my son when he was a sophomore. They sent literature. They had big posters at the community college. Obviously, they have a major marketing campaign going on. My son did eventually look them up and for some bizarre reason decided to see what the crime rate was in that area. He was not impressed. Or rather, he was very impressed, just not favourably. Hmm... I wonder if that had something to do with why later he refused to look at colleges right in Boston, despite all the people who told him to look at Northeastern or BU... The brochure I liked best was the one from Harvey Mudd. For some reason, I found that one attractive. The marketing gimick I liked best was the admissions office that had rubicks cubes on all the occasional tables in the waiting room and handed out foam puzzle cubes to keep everyone occupied while they waited for the open house introductory lecture to start. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 In case anyone is wondering how to get more college mail, try having a girl who checks "engineering," and only engineering, on the PSAT forms. One would almost expect that there is a shortage of girl engineering students... Of course I do not know for sure it is because she is a girl, but she has gotten plenty of mail from engineering schools, far more than her classmates who are mostly boys and upperclassmen (she is a freshman). Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I've had two girls that have checked that enigneering box--we could wallpaper the house... Try doing it thirty years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Yes dd is a female who checked engibeering. We will see how much mail she gets. She is a tenth grader, did the psat in oct but is really concentrating on the ACT in Feb. She wants to get a certain score for a summer program. So far she is hasnt received much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Try doing it thirty years ago. Ha ha, me too! I had stacks and stacks. I thought it was fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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